Rob Widmer Interview, Part 4

Last time we left off in our interview with Rob Widmer, we were talking about Widmer’s relationship to Craft Brewers Alliance and Anheuser-Busch (now owned by In-Bev). Here we continue and touch on the history behind Widmer’s relationship with the Oregon Brew Crew and their Collaborator series. We also get some insight to the latest trends in craft brewing.

Perhaps the problem many craft beer folks have with large breweries like A-B is the marketing of their products. Obviously, business is the bottom line, but on one hand they slight craft brewers for producing foofy, hoppy, fruity, fancy beers, crazy brews. On the other hand offering alternative brands like Belgian wits, fruit beers, and a “craft” line-up under alternative labels like Michelob amber etc…

Rob Widmer: It seems schizophrenic. It’s funny. Within that company, I think they’d admit that, too. They’re trying different things. We do crazy stuff here, and we’ve tried different things, and we market. It’s the business side.

Do you like Budweiser? Do you drink their lager?

RW: The only beer that I don’t really like are the ones with some infections that really bother me. But I kind of see it as “the right tool for the right job” and there’s some times when Bud tastes great and I’m happy to have it. I mean, I drank a lot of it when I was in college and even before then. So, I don’t have any problems with (Budweiser). As long as the beer is well made and clean… Honestly the beers that I have troubles with are a lot of the very expensive imported beers, big beers that are old, beat up. I am very much a fresh beer person. I definitely agree that there are some beers that benefit by some aging, but I’m always amazed by these vertical tastings of IPAs and things. To me, it’s like that beer died and people are oohing and ahhing over the horrible oxidated notes.

Tell us a little about the Collaborator series and how that came to fruition.

RW: It’s a very cool thing. Kurt and I were members of the Brew Crew before we were commercial brewers. We sort of lost contact with them but became kind of reacquainted in the mid-90s. Back then you couldn’t get a snack pack yeast when you were homebrewing. They weren’t available then. So we always had yeast and guys would call and say “I am going to swing by this weekend, can I get a container of yeast?” So we’d say “Sure, just bring us a couple bottles of the result” because we were curious of seeing what our yeast was capable of doing. Some of the beer that came back was awesome. And we thought “we’ve got to do something with these beers” and that is where the project was born.

And you are celebrating the Celebrator’s 11th Anniversary this fall.

RW: I tell you, all the brewers, and it has been a couple dozen of them in the last eleven years, every one of them said that going through the project was one of the best things they’ve done since they’ve been brewing. I thnk part of it, just being homebrewers, some of your friends thing “ah, that’s a nice hobby. your beer is good” and you sort of labor in obscurity. For the Collaborator brewers, they can come in, sit at the bar with their friends and get pints from their handle and say “This is my beer.” All of a sudden they’re legit, and their friends are like “Wow. You are for real” and everyone of them says they’re just so proud.

Have you tried Michel Brown’s pumpernickel bread beer that was voted for the recipe for the 11th Anniversary Collaborator?

RW: No. That is going to be interesting. The guys were figuring out how much bread that would be. So, we’ve got some work to do.

Are you going to put bread in it?

RW: Well, we are going to use some. But they’re afraid it just wouldn’t work (on a large scale). The whole project is about craziness. But they were looking at what the ingredients in it are. Maybe we can get the rye and stuff like that. So, we’ll work with the brewer to make sure he’s happy. There was a ton of rye bread.

Next topic: innovation. There’s lots of trends coming down the pipeline such as Belgian-style beers, extreme beers, and black IPAs as well as all kinds of experimental hop beers. What do you think of these trends, and are there any you are looking ahead to developing?

RW: The black IPA for the Collaborator project, the Cascadian dark ale…we actually entered it into the GABF. It was an awesome beer. But that was one that didn’t really fit any one style. I think that’s very cool. As for the whole Belgian crazy, we’re pretty pleased with our new Belgian golden and have given it a pretty prominent slot in the W Series. What we’re currently kind of pumped about, and it’s certainly not a new style, is the Summit hops in Drifter. We just think that its such a different hop. The character of it is so unusual. That is obviously why we are giving it a lot of effort. It’s been a lot of fun to sample people on this. It sort of taught me that almost every beer drinker likes the flavor and aroma of hops, they just don’t like the bitterness. (The Drifter) has a very intense flavor but is very smooth.

What about the name “The Original Drifter Pale Ale”?

RW: The name “Drifter” connotes that it is easy drinking. But the “Original” part…we really do think that there really isn’t another hop that gives that character. I took some to the Brew Crew and people loved it because it is so unusual and delicious. But I’ve had Budweiser drinkers who have had it and are like (makes disgusted face). The way we’ve run our business is by getting people to sample the beer. I’ve been present when a lot of people have tasted our beer. Usually you get (makes contemplative) “that’s good.” But when someone goes “Wow!”, you can’t fake that. And I’ve seen that a lot with this beer. It’s a subconscious thing and you can’t fake it. I’ve seen it from beer geeks and I’ve seen it from casual beer drinkers. We’re very pumped up about it of this.

It’s one of those beers that you either love or can rub you the wrong way.

RW: Jeff Alworth (Beervana Blog) said it was kind of catty. We’ve done a lot of sensory training here and when you get that pure compound, I can definitely get it. I don’t wanna say I like it, but I am all over this (beer).

I see it as kind of oniony.

RW: A lot of our guys on the taste panel taste it as oniony. For me, Cascades have always been my favorite hop. We use it on Broken Halo, Widmer Hefe…it’s in Sierra Nevada, Mirror Pond, all that, but this could very well be my favorite. I’ve just always like the character of Cascades.

…Stay tuned for part 5…